GAME NOTES: Two teams that were able to get back in the win column in Tuesday's action at the Diamond Head Classic meet on Christmas Day to close out the event, as the Ohio Bobcats tangle with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Ohio blasted DePaul on Tuesday, 99-78, setting a Diamond Head Classic scoring record and putting the brakes on a brief two-game losing streak in the process. As a result, the Bobcats enter this fray seeking a return to .500 as they presently sit at 4-5 on the season. Following this clash, OU will play one more non-league game (vs. UNC-Wilmington on Dec. 30) before embarking on its Mid-American Conference slate by hosting Northern Illinois on Jan. 7.

Nebraska had begun the season with victories in five of its first six games, but a 65-55 loss to intrastate rival Creighton started the team on a downward slope that also saw it lose in improbable fashion to visiting Incarnate Word (74-73). The Huskers bounced back to outlast Cincinnati in double-overtime (56-55), but a 66-58 loss to Hawaii in the opening round of this event had them scuffling again. Fortunately, they were able to win Tuesday's bout with Loyola Marymount, although they were hardly world-beaters in what turned out to be a 50-42 final in overtime. Nebraska returns home following this contest to host Indiana on New Year's Even in its Big Ten Conference opener.

Nebraska has won all three previous matchups in the series with Ohio, but it's been more than 20 years since the teams last met.

Ohio had little trouble doing what it wanted at the offensive end in Tuesday's 21-point win over DePaul. The Bobcats drained 10 3-pointers as part of a near-60 percent shooting effort from the floor, and they logged a 38-29 rebounding edge as well. In addition, OU secured sizeable edges in points in the paint (44-24) and off turnovers (26-16). The Blue Demons were limited to 41 percent field goal efficiency. Javarez Willis nailed seven treys en route to a career-high 31 points, Treg Setty and Ryan Taylor added 17 apiece, Maurice Ndour had 15 and Antonio Campbell 10 for the victors. Ndour and Campbell logged double-doubles by each grabbing 10 boards.

Javarez raised his season scoring average to a team-best 16.4 ppg, while Ndour (14.6 ppg), Taylor (11.3 ppg) and Campbell (10.0 ppg) are all netting double figures on a consistent basis as well -- all of which helps the team put up 70.9 ppg, doing so despite a lackluster 30.9 percent shooting effort from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Bobcats are permitting 71.1 ppg, with foes connecting on 34.3 percent of their long-range launches. Ndour grabs 8.9 rpg and Campbell another 7.9 rpg for a team that is nearly even in rebounding margin (-0.1).

Nebraska put the clamps on at the defensive end in Tuesday's tight win over Loyola Marymount, as it forced 20 turnovers and held the Lions to just 28 percent field goal efficiency. The Cornhuskers didn't shoot the ball much better, but their 36.8 percent effort was good enough to help them earn the victory. Terran Petteway paced the club with 17 points, while Shavon Shields added 13 and Walter Pitchford 10. Shields was guilty of seven turnovers, and Petteway four more. Pitchford came up with a team-high eight boards, but the Huskers wound up on the short end of a 40-22 rebounding differential.

Petteway (19.0 ppg) and Shields (16.7 ppg) are the only two double-digit scorers for Nebraska this season, as the team is generating 67.4 ppg behind rather pedestrian shooting percentages of .430 overall and .311 from 3-point land. The Huskers' defensive effort yields only 61.9 ppg, as they do an especially good job of getting in the faces of opposing shooters, holding them to just 38.1 percent accuracy from the floor overall, which includes a woeful 28.9 percent showing from beyond the arc. Improvements in rebounding (-0.9) and well as in ball control (15.3 turnovers per game) are imperative if the team is going to make any significant noise in the Big Ten this season.

Neither team is setting the world on fire at the moment, but there is plenty of time to turn things around. Expect a close game, and for the Huskers to prevail on the strength of another solid effort from Petteway and Shields.